1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to augmented reality applications and more particularly to combining image recognition features with augmented reality applications in order to enrich the augmented reality applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Augmented reality (AR) attempts to enrich a user's real environment by adding spatially aligned virtual objects (3D models, 2D textures, textual annotations, etc.) to the user's environment. The goal is to create the impression that the virtual object is a part of the real environment. The users of the AR system experience the augmented environment through special display devices that are typically worn on the body, e.g., head mounts.
Current augmented reality systems suffer from issues with general registration problems, i.e., getting the computer graphics to stick to a real-world scene. For example, due to the use of multiple sensors, artifacts, such as miss-movement of the computer graphics with the real-world scene may occur. These artifacts are due to the multiple sensors having different speeds. Additionally, delays between the head tracking system and the camera used to capture the real-world scene along with the need to merge the computer graphics into the real-world scene, cause misalignment/registration problems. These registration problems may even become serious enough to cause a user to become uncomfortable when viewing the image. Additionally, the augmented reality systems tend to be complex systems that are not portable. Accordingly, there are no viable consumer applications for these augmented reality systems.
As a result, there is a need to solve the problems of the prior art to provide a method and apparatus for providing a portable device capable of providing an augmented reality experience.